Flashback ’90s Faves–What Honolulu Was Buzzing About in March 1993
Each month, we take a nostalgic dive into our archive. As the oldest continuously published magazine west of the Mississippi, there's a lot of good stuff in there.
In the ’90s, HONOLULU Magazine asked readers to mail (or fax!) their picks for the People’s Choice Awards for the Best and Worst of Hawai‘i. Looking back, we celebrate both the changemakers and how times have changed.
On the tribute side, the award for Kama‘āina with the Most Aloha Spirit went fittingly to entertainer extraordinaire Danny Kaleikini, who died in January of this year. Loved as Hawai‘i’s “ambassador of aloha,” the 85-year-old remained a positive force for Hawaiian values.
He also won as one of five Best-Dressed Kama‘āina. Rounding out the best-dressed were TV news anchors Linda Coble and Leslie Wilcox, business exec/former politician John Henry Felix and former first lady Lynne Waihe‘e (while husband John Waihe‘e hit the worst-dressed list along with fellow now-former Gov. Neil Abercrombie).
Many food-scene favorites are long gone: Sunset Grill for Best Business Lunch; Studebaker’s for Best Happy Hour (where the waitstaff danced on the counters); Tripton’s American Café for Best Dinner Under $20; as well as The Secret, winning for Best Discreet Dinner, which now sounds like a very sketchy category. But, take heart! Back then, multiple awards went to Michel’s at the Colony Surf in Waikīkī, which outlasted them all—it won Best Place to Propose Marriage, Best Place for An Anniversary as well as Best Power Breakfast.
People with aloha spirit earned the Top Reason to Live in Hawai‘i. Biggest Waste of Taxpayers’ Money went to $50 million in rapid transit studies. Best AND worst contests confuse us: The Best Use of Spam award went to musubi, while Worst Use of the Island favorite was “human consumption.” Gulp!
The awards included Favorite Local Jokes with enough ethnic stereotypes to insult just about everybody, although the No. 1 skewered state employees: A worker vehemently stomping a snail is asked, why the attack? “This damn snail has been following me around all day.” Groan.
